Hinge for football shoulder pads



April 17, 1956 w. P. WEEKS HINGE FOR FOOTBALL SHOULDER PADS Filed March 18, 1954 INVENTOR.

United States Patent HINGE FOR FOOTBALL SHOULDER PADS Wilton P. Weeks, Nocona, Tex. Application March 18, 1954, Serial No. 417,200

3 Claims. (Cl. 2-2) This invention relates to hinges of the kind which are 7 partially overlie the upper parts of the back and chest of one wearing the pad. The lateral extremities of the collar support padded shoulder caps which are contoured to fit over the point of the shoulder and the upper part of the arm. In order to permit unrestricted movement of the arm, the shoulder caps are hingedly connected to the collar of the pad. The provision of such hinge joints necessarily involves removing or weakening the padding along the line of the hinge joints, and thus in this area, the protection provided by the pad would be reduced if no provision for correcting this defect were made. The common arrangement for overcoming this defect involves the use of floppets which are hingedly supported on the upper surface of the collar inwardly of the hinge connection between the collar and caps, and which fioppets extend laterally beyond the hinge connections. The floppets are formed of a hard material and as they overlie the hinge connections between the caps and collar, the portion of the players shoulder beneath the hinge connections is adequately protected. Since the floppets partially overlie the shoulder caps, they too, must be hingedly supported in order to permit the movement of the shoulder caps that is necessary to permit the player wearing the shoulder pad to move his arms freely. In the past, this hinge connection between collar and fioppets has consisted simply of a leather tab or tabs secured at one end to the fioppet and at the other end to the collar.

Examples of this type of hinge connection are shown in United States Patents No. 2,636,170 and Reissue No. 22,084. This type of floppet hinge has several drawbacks, which ultimately result in making the shoulder pad less comfortable to wear and less able to provide the desired protection against heavy impacts. Such hinges allow the fioppets to be displaced sideways from their proper position over the hinge connection between the collar and cap. This disadvantage is particularly pronounced after the leather hinge has been flexed a large number of times and loses some of its initial resiliency.

The principal purpose of the present invention is to provide an improved hinge for connecting fioppets to the collar portion of a football shoulder pad, which hinge may be made of leather or similar flexible material but will not permit the fioppets to be displaced from their proper position, even after extended use of the shoulder pad. A further purpose of the invention is to provide an improved hinge which may be employed to connect a shoulder cap to the collar portion of a football shoulder pad so that it will permit freedom of movement of the wearers arm but will remain properly positioned with respect to the collar portion of the shoulder pad even after extended use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiment of the invention which is illustrated in the drawings by way of example.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a top plan view of a football shoulder pad comprising a floppet hinge according to the invention; and

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The general construction of the shoulder pads shown in the drawings is conventional. The pads comprise a collar portion 16 which consists of two similar sections which are adapted to be laced together to form the collar portion. A shoulder cap 12 is hingedly fixed at 15 to eachof thelateral edges of the collar portion and these caps, in the conventional manner, are formed to fit over the shoulder joint of one wearing the shoulder pad. The fioppets 14 are hingedly supported on the upper surface of the collar portion intermediately of the hinged connections between the collar portion 10 and the caps 12 and the inner edge of the collar portion which encircles the neck of one wearing the shoulder pad. The fioppets 14 extend laterally a suflicient distance to overlie the hinged connection between the collar portion and the caps 12, all as is well known in the art.

The hinge provided by this invention may be used in a shoulder pad construction of the kind described as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2. This embodiment of the hinge comprises a plate of flexible, durable material, such as leather, which is cut, or slit, inwardly from one edge to provide three tongues or flaps 16, 18, 20, which extend from the base section 22. The base section 22 of the plate is fastened to the collar portion 10, by rivets 24, or similar fastening devices, so that the tongues extend laterally outwardly toward the shoulder caps 12. The tongues 16 and 2t) overlie and are secured to the upper surface of the floppet 14, While the broader middle tongue 18 extends beneath the inner edge of the floppet and is securely fixed to the under surface thereof by any suitable fastening means, such as rivets 24.

It will be observed that the described hinge minimizes the chances of the floppets being displaced from their proper position on the shoulder pad as the result of an impact or long continued use. The hinge construction is such that the floppet will not be displaced by a blow which would in other designs cause the floppet to be twisted in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 1. The floppet is held at each end between adjacent tongues which extend respectively over and under the floppet. The inner edge of the fioppet thus rests in the crotches formed between the tongues 16 and 18 and 18 and 20 and it is not subject to being displaced inwardly either as a unit or at either end The hinge plate 22 is formed of flexible material, such as leather, which is not subject to being extended during normal use, and consequently, the fioppet cannot be displaced outwardly, either as a unit or by twisting of either end. The floppet is consequently, at all times, maintained in its proper position on the shoulder pad without detracting in any degree to swing about its hinged connection to the collar portion, as may be required in the course of normal use of the shoulder pad.

For convenience of assembly in some instances, it may be desirable to divide the hinge into two separate sections. When the shoulder pad is assembled in this manner, the construction is similar to that shown except that the section of the hinge lying between the dotted lines a and b in Figure l is then removed, thus providing a 1. A snoulderrpad comprising a icollanporticm s houl- "der'caps hingedly connected totthe lateral idgescfisaid collarltportion', a floppet, and a hinge-isupporting-Isaid floppet on said collar, saidfl'iinge comprising affieitible plate having a base portion and adjacentetonguesextending laterally-from said base portion, one .of sai ditongues b'eing' 'fixe d to the upper surfaceof saidlfloppettoward;

'itsinner edge and the 'a'djacenttongue"beinglfixedmo the underside of said 'floppet towardmitsinner le'dge and 'said in'ner'edge lying in the crotch formed between said adjacenttongues.

A sh oulder pad comprising a collarimember, ashoulder protecting member, and a hinge=supportingsaid shoul-' f'der, protecting member on said collar member saidhinge I "fiire'd todhempper surface l o' comprising aflexihle plate; having .aLbasegportionsecured to-one of said members and two tongues extend-ing laterally-from said base portion, oneof said tonguesbeing f-the other 'of sa'id-members toward an edge of said other member, and the adjacent tongue beingfixe'd 'tothe under surface of said other member toward its said edge, and said edge lying in the crotch formed between said adjacent tongues.

3. A shoulder pad comprising a collar member, a shoulder protecting member, and a hinge supporting said shoulder protecting member on said collar member, said hinge comprising flexible plate means attached to one of said members; said;platemeanshavingmore,than -twmtongues extending laterally therefrom, said tongues forming between them at least-twocrot'ches spaee'd from each, other, the tongueton one-side of;eacl1- said.,crotch;beinglfixed to the upper surface of the other of said members, and the tongue on the othensidemf each :said'crotch being fixed to the under surface of said other member.

References Cited in the file of this patent :UNITED; STATES PATENIS Lookabaugh 1 4317 28, 1942 1,748,890 Martin -fiFb. "25,1930 2, 54'5;039 Mitchell -'M-ar.'i"l3, 195 1 2636,170 ""Goldsmith --Ap.r."-28, 1 953 

